Honduras Security News

Emily Dayana Muñoz, 9, was kidnapped from her home in Sabá, Colón on August 2, found dead in a plastic bag the next day, and buried Tuesday as her family and community demanded authorities pursue her killer; preliminary autopsy findings confirmed violent death by blunt-force trauma to the head.

Security Minister Gerzon Velásquez confirmed authorities are actively hunting Esteban Gumercindo Ferrera Rodas, alias "El Diablo," the alleged leader of the Diablo cartel, saying seized videos of the group's murders document extreme brutality and noting recent operations have found hideouts in rural mountain areas.

Honduran military arrested Henry Zalaya Umanzor, 45, a Salvadoran citizen suspected of illegal entry and criminal gang ties, at the El Amatillo border crossing in Valle; authorities say he has a criminal record in El Salvador for document forgery and aggravated robbery.

Gloria Marina López Pineda, accused of fatally stabbing her newborn daughter in May 2025 in San Pedro Sula, will stand trial on October 19–21; prosecutors presented 16 pieces of evidence including DNA tests and an autopsy showing stab wounds.

The prosecutor's office filed an appeal of a judge's decision to reduce pretrial detention measures against Mario Carbajal, an evangelical pastor accused of eight sexual offenses against three minors.

Interpol has officially taken up the case of Genesis María Ortiz Ramírez, 11, who disappeared on July 22 from San Pedro Sula's Nuevos Horizontes neighborhood, expanding the investigation beyond Honduras's borders.

Recent high-profile murders of children, including 9-year-old Emily Dayana Muñoz, have reignited demands to strengthen search protocols for missing minors and update child-protection laws; experts cite data showing a child dies violently every 43 hours in Honduras.

Harold Ulloa Ramos, 17, was kidnapped by two men on motorcycles near Santa Rita, Yoro, on August 3 and found decapitated the following morning, with his head left on a roadside and his body discovered separately.

Joseph David Vuelto, a 16-year-old fisherman, remains missing in the Caribbean Sea after vanishing during a fishing trip from Corozal toward Cayos Cochinos; family members, local fishermen, and volunteers continue searching the coast despite the official maritime rescue period having ended.

Fermín Melgar Godoy, 50, died in a rapidly spreading structural fire that completely destroyed a house in Danlí, El Paraíso; firefighters discovered his remains during the cooling-down process.

Intelligence reports say the Coleman organization, which works for the Sinaloa cartel, controls maritime drug-smuggling routes at Puerto Cortés; one member was arrested during Operation Mare Nostrum on August 3, but leader Luis Felipe Aguilera Coleman escaped.

A gunfight between police in the Metropolitan Prevention Unit 8 and suspected gang members in the Cerrito Lindo neighborhood left one person dead, five arrested, and two officers wounded during an operation against criminal groups.

Investigative reporting traces how the Mexican cartel Los Zetas expanded control over cocaine corridors from South America through Central America to Mexico, including routes through Honduras, after eliminating a Guatemalan rival clan in 2008 and directly confronting Honduran police in Copán in 2011.

Firefighters rescued Olga Roxana González, 43, after she fell through a collapsing latrine cover into a 20-foot-deep septic tank in Los Pinos, east of Tegucigalpa; she was taken to Hospital Escuela for evaluation of injuries and exposure to sewage.

Surveillance video captured a driver traveling at high speed seconds before crashing into a residential wall in San Pedro Sula.

A motorcyclist died and a female passenger was seriously injured when the bike, traveling at excessive speed in the Villa Nueva neighborhood, left the road and crashed into a house on August 2.

Honduras has sanctioned 10,752 police officers and security officials between 2018 and mid-2026, with 4,500 dismissed; data shows an average of 9–10 officers fired weekly, though many cases remain stuck in administrative processes despite suspected ties to organized crime.

Investigators say worn-out rear brake pads and a burst auxiliary pump likely caused a bus to lose control in Tegucigalpa's Los Pinos neighborhood on August 2, killing two men, aged 67 and 72, and injuring at least five others.

The body of Evelin Dayana Muñoz, missing since August 1, was discovered Sunday in a palm plantation near Achiote, Sabá, Colón, sparking alarm in the community.

National penitentiary security personnel arrested a woman at Ilama Prison in Santa Bárbara after discovering a package of suspected illicit drugs hidden in her body during a visit.

Authorities are investigating a mother in Roatán on suspicion of child abuse after two siblings, ages 4 and 13, were admitted to hospital with burn injuries; the incident allegedly occurred on Sunday.

Authorities arrested a 34-year-old man accused of fatally shooting his aunt, Elizabeth González Ardón, on May 29 in Alauca, El Paraíso; investigators believe a family dispute over an inheritance motivated the killing.

A motorcyclist died and his female passenger was injured on August 1 after their bike collided with a heavy truck in the Bijao sector of Choloma; authorities are investigating whether the truck driver failed to yield the right of way.

A woman with multiple knife wounds was discovered dead in an unfinished house in the La Pista neighborhood of Catacamas, Olancho, on Saturday morning; police have not yet identified her or identified suspects.

Michael Jamblyck Costly Bennett, 30, was arrested in Michigan on July 30 on suspicion of murder committed abroad and found carrying forged documents; he had been deported from the US twice before.

Police arrested two men, ages 45 and 21, allegedly linked to the criminal organization run by alias 'Juan el Malón,' a figure authorities accuse of orchestrating violence, forced displacement, and illegal logging in the Merendón reserve area.

Police are investigating an alleged letter circulating in Tegucigalpa attributed to MS-13 that claims the gang has ceased extortion activities and urges merchants and transport workers to report anyone demanding illegal payments under its name.

Police arrested Tira Maryori Borjas Ortiz, 37, after video circulated on social media showing her insulting and pushing her mother, Zonia Esperanza Ortiz García, in their home in Teupasenti, El Paraíso; she faces charges of aggravated domestic abuse.

Police in Choloma arrested a man accused of dragging a dog behind his vehicle in a video that circulated on social media and sparked public outrage; prosecutors are investigating animal-cruelty charges and will examine the dog's condition.

Police have neutralized at least 10 self-kidnapping hoaxes from January through July, in which perpetrators—often family members—fake abduction to extort money, documents, or property from relatives, a crime criminologists attribute to eroding social values and economic desperation.